Last year, I had created a library of images for Planned Parenthood Global, which works in rural and urban areas of Guatemala, Nicaragua, Ecuador, Peru, Ethiopia, and Kenya. In all of these countries, rates of unintended pregnancy and unsafe abortions remain very high.

This post describes how Planned Parenthood has used a very innovative “Youth Peer Provider” model. This program trains young teenagers to teach and empower their peers with the knowledge that they need to prevent unwanted pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases. These young people assume the role of health educators and contraceptive counselors. In countries where talking to young people about sex remains taboo, Youth Peer Providers help their counterparts to delay pregnancy, stay healthy, and stay in school.

The images of teenagers earnestly educating their peers, with explicit demonstrations of the proper use of condoms, are scenes that one does not normally see here in the US. Using peer counselors to educate their fellow adolescents has proven very effective in reducing rates of unintended pregnancy, and empowering teenagers to control their lives and pursue their dreams.

Below, Ofelia is a peer counselor who has been trained by Planned Parenthood. She is pictured outside her parents guesthouse in Cusco, Peru. She is explaining the proper use of condoms to a high-school student who lives in a rural area and boards at the guesthouse.

Planned Parenthood peer counselors distributing condoms and safe-sex information to young men and sexually active teenagers in a plaza in Jinotega Nicaragua

In Riobamba, Ecuador, another demonstration to a young couple on proper condom use.

In Cajabamba, Ecuador, an indigenous teenagers instructs her peers on the proper use of birth-control pills.

In Cajabamba Ecuador, Lourdes instructs a group of teenagers on safe sex and birth-control methods. Lourdes is employed by CHEMOPLAF, an Ecuadorian NGO who has partnered with Planned Parenthood.

In Awassa Ethiopia a young peer counselor demonstrates proper use of a condom.

A group of peer mothers gathering together for their weekly coffee ceremony in Awassa, Ethiopia. They use this time to discuss their experiences in delivering family planning information to members of their communities.

A peer mother discussing safe sex and contraception to a very interested 14 year old

In Adama Ethiopia an instructor for the Forum on Sustainable Child Development instructs a group of young girls on basic sexual reproductive health and contraception.

In Guatemala, half of all young women marry before the age of 20. Only five percent of them use an effective method of birth control.
Forty-four percent of women become mothers before they reach 20; the proportion of young mothers is even higher among women without education (68 percent) and among indigenous women (54%). By the time they turn 30, many of these women have seven or eight children.
Although there is a federal mandate to provide universal reproductive-health education and healthcare , entrenched cultural norms and the
influence of the Catholic Church mean that very few young people receive it.

Early motherhood is recognized throughout the world as a factor that negatively impacts the physical, emotional, and reproductive well-being of young women, as well as the pace of a country’s development. In Guatemala, scarce economic resources limit the lives of most young people; an unplanned pregnancy adds further weight to their burden. Thus, it is imperative that young people have access to education regarding the additional social, psychological, and health consequences of teen pregnancy.Stuart Schear, the former Vice President of Communications for Planned Parenthood, has written about a very innovative program that is directed at teenagers.
To quote from his blog, funding and technical assistance from Planned Parenthood supports “Tan Ux’il, a local youth organization active in the rural northern region of Petén. Tan Ux’il seeks to ensure that young people between the ages of 12 and 19 have accurate information about sexual health and birth control. The organization also advocates for health services for pregnant women.” TanUx’il’s young activists also created a friendly clinic in a local hospital that caters to young pregnant teenagers.

The full waiting room of a prenatal clinic in a regional hospital in Peten Guatemala. The youth activist of Tan Ux’il lobbied for this youth friendly clinic and suggested that it be painted in bright colors.

A young pregnant teenager waiting for her pre-natal exam.

This pregnant young girl is only 16 years old.

Her boyfriend was 24.

Gomber, a young DJ for Sexo Tips Radio, who shares tips about sexual health and birth control with her audience in Guatemala between playing pop songs.

Elmer, a founder of Sexo Tips Radio, plays popular music and answer questions from their peers about sex and puberty.

Some of the other teenagers of Tan Ux’il broadcasting their Sexo Tips radio program.